Jeanne Birdsall (born 1951) is an American photographer and writer of children's books. She is best known for her five-volume series about the Penderwick family. The Penderwicks, the first book in the series, won the 2005 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.
Life
Birdsall was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up in the suburbs. Birdsall has one sibling, a sister who is four years older than her. She decided to become a writer at the age of ten, but she didn't start until she was forty-one. She worked first on other jobs, most notably as a photographer, and some of her work has been displayed in galleries around the world.
Birdsall's first book, The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, was published when she was 54 and won the 2005 National Book Award.
Books The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy (Alfred A. Knopf, 2005) —winner of the National Book Award"National Book Awards – 2005". National Book Foundation (NBF). Retrieved 2012-04-15. (With acceptance speech by Birdsall, introduction by panelist Liz Rosenberg, and information about all five Young People's Literature authors and books.) The Penderwicks on Gardam Street (Knopf, 2008) Flora's Very Windy Day (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin, 2010), children's picture book illustrated by Matt Phelan The Penderwicks at Point Mouette (Knopf, 2011) Lucky and Squash (Harper/HarperCollins, 2012), picture book illus. Jane Dyer The Penderwicks in Spring (Knopf, 2015) My Favorite Pets: by Gus W. for Ms. Smolinski's Class (Knopf, 2016), picture book illus. Harry Bliss The Penderwicks At Last (Knopf, 2018) The Library of Unruly Treasures (Knopf, 2025)
Collections Philadelphia Museum of Art Smithsonian American Art Museum
References
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